Welcome to the Vegas of Asia the Macau Casino World

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The Venetian Macao

Macau, when we take the name Macau the picture which comes in front of our eyes is Casinos, shopping center, big buildings, lavish lifestyle and for sure that’s true.Today I am going to share my experiences in Macau.See the world of Macau from my eyes.Here you go 🙂

Transport- Each casino is accessible by limousine bus, which is free from major public center like airport , border gate and ferry terminal. All big casinos buses have good frequencies 2~3 buses / 30 minutes.

Points to remember- Minimum age to enter in casino area is 18, so if your appearance does not looks like an adult then better to keep passport with you all time to prove your age to security guard around entrance of casino area.

What to expect- Like other casinos in the world, Macao also have all kind of games including private bidding space too. Minimum bit is decided on each table. If you are afraid of gambling, then go inside the casino area stroll with multiple tables and just see the people or play safe with a roulette.

Facilities- You can have limousine bus from casino to almost any part of Macao.If you are coming for a day trip and you are loaded with bags then you can keep your bags in luggage center with small amount money for a day or hours.

Nearby attraction- You can visit Taipa village, Rua Do Kunha cookie street if you are in Taipa part. If you are in Macao center then Stroll along the street of Portuguese architecture Macao can be a good choice.

Vagabond recommendation- If you do not have enough time then you can choose particular number casinos to explore for a day.We personally feel all casinos are almost same without any big difference. We visited Galaxy Macau, The Venetian Macao and The Parisian Macao.

Galaxy Macau

Galaxy Macau

Galaxy Macau-  Biggest casino in the Taipa area, you will find golden color buses of this casino. Galaxy Macau provide exotic holiday experience with some cultural night.Entrance of this casino is always based on festival season, If you love private casino this is the place for you.

The Venetian Macao- People who are fan of Venice then this is the place of you, as the name suggests its Venice of Macau. You can experience small Venice inside the mall. There is a canal inside the mall where you can take gondola drive for couple of minutes with some packages like singing dining etc on gondola.For vegetarian people like cookie, you have many choices around food court. Best thing you may like in this casino is interior architecture and ambience, roof above gondola drive place is sky type wallpaper which is hard to check whether original or just wallpaper with balance light. Its the shoppers paradise.

The Parisian Macao- The Parisian Macao recreates the magic of Paris in Macau. Easy to mark this casino as it’s having Eiffel tower outside the building. For the people who love french cuisine, they might like this place.Our recommendation is BRASSERIE with great atmosphere, where you can enjoy, classically French meal.

All the casinos can be covered within a day with shopping, dining and gambling experience.If you have more time then you can visit local Taipa village which I am going to post on my next article.For people visiting Macau more than 2-3 days they can divide itinerary based on heritage tour ( Churches and Portuguese architecture), casino tour and adventure tour(Bungee & Horse riding).

The Venetian Macao

The Venetian Macao

Stroll along the street of Portuguese architecture Macau

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Ruins of St. Paul's Macau

Ruins of St. Paul’s Macau

Are you planning to visit macau for 2~3 days? Are you interested to know some transport hacks around macau?If all answers are yes then you are on right place. The first thing as like other countries you need a travel visa for macau do not think macau is in china having chinese rules, it’s part of mainland china but having own rules and regulations.You can get on arrival visa for 15 days at airport of ferry terminal.

My To Do List Coming Post: How to decide ferry company from Macau to Hong Kong vice versa.

Once, you leave airport you will see all big buildings all like big palace one may easily thinks these are shopping malls but how it is possible to have numerous malls at one place with this much huge area? Now you know this is casino city.Macau is well known as Vegas of Asia and yes it means a lot for gamblers.

Note:

Once you are passing through casino area, please mind that you should have some id proof for age. People with 18 years old as a visitor and 21 years as a local can enter in the casino area while you are free to roam around the hotel.

Reference Post: Welcome to the Vegas of Asia the Macau casino world

Most of the people think  Macau is all about casinos but that’s not true at all there is more than that. Vagabond is recommending you few place where you can visit in a day with slow pace. Make sure to learn one thing specially eat street cookies, jerry and ginger candy while walking and following the crowd to reach all famous travel points.

Note:

Keep macau city map, which you can get from airport, ferry port or at reception desk of your hotel. This map will help you to find nearest casino’s free shuttle to reach you destination.

Appreciate the architecture of Kun Lam Statue:

You can start your day with Kun Lam statue which is a 32 meter tall bronze statue in the name of goddess of mercy. The place is completely free of cost to move around but if you want to see history of the place it has small museum in the basement which has some minimal entrance fee.Museum will tell you more about goddess of mercy in chinese buddhism and how they build this statue. We came here with limousine bus run by Wynn macau casino and from alight point statue is just couple of minute walking distance.

See 3D Show in Macau Science Center:

Science center is visible from Kun Lam statue and you can take 5 minutes walk to reach there.Museum glass building is classy piece with conical shape. You need to pay some fee to visit different parts of museum and if you want to see planetarium or 3D show then pay extra around 35 ~ 40 MOP.

Note:

MOP is a currency in Macau which can be used for shopping having a bit lower value than Hong Kong dollar(HKD). There are many tourists who come for a day trip from Hong kong so it’s usual to buy everything in HKD where they consider 1HKD=1MOP, but you can not use MOP in Hong Kong.

Passthrough the history of Fisherman’s Wharf:

Macau has replica of many word heritages and this is the place where you will find the replica of Colosseum in Rome. This place is located in city center and is the home of theme park, shopping centers and dining. Admission is completely free but in some attractions you need to pay a small fee.This place is just 3~6 minutes walking distance from Macau Hong Kong ferry terminal so you can take bus from ferry terminal to any place.

Note:

Macau ferry terminal, Taipa ferry terminal and airport is a famous place to catch limousine for reaching any part of Macau. You can always get shuttle bus of any casino which is free of cost which drop you near by your visiting attraction.

Check the burned pillar in Ruins of St Paul church:

This is most famous tourist spot in Macau, no body leaves Macau without visiting to this church.This church caught fire several times in history and currently only front face is remaining to exhibit the history from the past.I recommend this place to visit during sunset time as it looks stunning with lights and blue sky in evening time. It’s UNESCO world heritage site.It has small museum too, regarding to history and it’s free.

All the places especially churches and paths are highly influenced by Portuguese architecture. Whole  architecture and language is still preserved by Macau people , which is really good. You can see text written on currency, menu and other stuff in Portuguese. Chinese, English and Portuguese is the language highly spoken in the region.

Historical walk around Senado Square and Domingo’s Church:

Start walk from St. Paul church to Domingo’s church with following sign boards, it might be around 3~5 minutes walking distance.You will pass through many authentic Chinese and European restaurants which may tickle your taste buds.Enjoy cookies on the way and buy some souvenir for beloved ones. Square is actually famous for gathering and celebration during X-mas, new year countdown and easter. There are many photogenic places where you can capture photo for your instagram account just check it out loyal senate building(Leal Senado) second floor.

One of the city’s most important religious sites A-Ma Temple:

This place is preserved as religious site for Buddhism.One of the UNESCO heritage site and worth to visit recommended by cookie vagabond.History documents and wiki reveal that the name of Macau is based on this temple.Temple has Chinese calligraphy text with scenic photo wall.

This is a complete one day trip as all attractions are nearby.It is highly recommend to all to keep Macau city map to locate near by bus stop for free and paid bus. For us it was hustle and bustle but if you have enough time you can remove A-Ma temple  from your itinerary and visit others.

Hope you enjoyed the post and are motivated enough to visit Portuguese architecture while enjoying egg tart, jerry and cookies. Do not forget to follow us in social media

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Casino Venetian Macau

Casino Venetian Macau

A day out in Hong Kong Kowloon Island

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Hon Kong food and vagabond

Hon Kong food and vagabond

It was a beautiful morning of  December 2016 to have morning walk along Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront.The whole area comes under Kowloon and is a home of many famous attractions. On the way of morning walk we got enough time to think that how we are going to spend time in Kowloon area and we decided to explore nearby places.

The first thing to be noticed while visiting Kowloon area is to choose the route for visiting all the attractions, most of them are nearby and almost in a row. We chose Austin as a starting point of journey.

Starting a day with temple is always a good kick up for the day.You can go Wong Tai Sin Temple.This temple is very famous among the people who are looking forward to make their wish come true.People perform prayer and offer beer, chicken, wine and fruits to god.This temple belongs to  Buddhism and Confucianism.Nearest station to reach this place is MTR Wong Tai Sin Station with Exit B2 and there is shopping mall near by temple entrance where you can expect good coffee shop with delicious brunch at the top floor.

If you love window shopping and bargaining, ladies market can be a shopper’s paradise for you. Market serve wide variety fashion for girls and kids basically. Most of the items are between 10$ ~ 20$. If you are looking for small souvenir like Hong Kong magnet, map and copper plates with Hong Kong harbor photos, you can easily get it here.While passing through street do not shy to put your own bargaining price on the items which you like but down line is 10$.Nearest station to reach this place is MTR Mong Kok Station with Exit E2.

Next row for street market is Temple Street Night Market with plenty of small stall and outside dining restaurants. Street is full of souvenirs, bags , cutleries and other fashion accessories.Market is just walking distance from Tsim Sha Tsui central area.Quite noticeable oil painting are very famous in the street and can be grabbed easily within 100$.Nearest station to reach this place is MTR Jordan Station with Exit A. Recommended time to visit this place is afternoon when street is full with artist, fortune teller and antiques shops.

If you love to see the city from skyscraper then just go ahead with SKY100.Let me remind you it’s a tallest building in Hong Kong and you can cover 100 floor in just 60 seconds with high speed lift.Check there website for updates, sometime it’s close due to renovation.For discount you can buy couple ticket and enjoy the date with 360-degree view of Harbour.Nearest station to see this place is MTR Kowloon Station, Exits C1 or D1.
Website: SKY100

From sky 100 you can come to Nathan road Tsim Sha Tsui. Nathan road is the place for colorful hoardings with small shops, cafe and restaurants. In nathan road there is building called choukin mansion where you can see small shop which offer good price for currency exchange.Road is busy from dawn to dusk. Many salesman are busy along the road looking for customer for guest house, private tour, dining and car services. Beware of pickpocket because the area is not safe especially when crowded.Once you finish Nathan road you will find yourself within walking distance from Avenue of Stars.

Avenue of Stars is still in renovation mode and expected to restart the business in 2018. You can still have look for some famous statue like Bruce Lee and Mcdull. All the statues and handprints are along the harbour so will definitely enjoy the harbour view. Avenue had great history in Hong Kong cinema so you will definitely like to read the message board while walking along the harbour. Nearest station to reach this place is MTR East Tsim Sha Tsui Station with Exit J.

From avenue of stars you can start walking about 10 mins and find yourself in front of space museum.It’s a oval shape building and popular landmark in harbour waterfront.You can checkout space theater and planetarium. After you exit museum within a few meters distance is Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade.

Promenade is best place to see waterfront while having a coffee in the evening.Many people gather here to see  Symphony of Lights show around 20:00, which last for 15 minutes.Waterfront is long enough and you can easily find space to sit and enjoy just be aware in new year eve as it’s full packed and it’s hard to enter even in the area.

In the same line there is  Kowloon Canton Railway Clock Tower which was monument for all the immigrants during the age of steam train terminus, who used to visit hong kong and other part of world through this Harbour. People still remember the beginning of 19th century when there was a big train station with full of people. Recommendation to visit is evening time which is a happening time around the waterfront.

If you want to visit harbour the star ferry is the option which you find here easily. It is still a transport medium to travel between hong kong center and Kowloon. The better way to enjoy the scenery is water tour offered by many companies for couple of hours, moving around the  harbour. In the past it established strong link between two island when there was not rich infrastructure like train bridge etc. Harbour cruise still recommend in the evening rather than daytime.

Finally we were done with Kowloon area with finishing at waterfront from where we started our day.Hope you will also enjoy the day like we did.

Harbor front in Hong Kong

Harbor front in Hong Kong

Note: Keep octopus card with you all time as almost all transport accept card and you can submit this card back to station once leaving the country to get back security amount.

Bird eye view of Hong Kong

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Today’s post is completely dedicated to central Hong Kong.You need at least a full day to visit central hong kong with plenty of choices around walking distance. Central Hong Kong is business hub for many multinational companies and banks, so as expected many skyscrapers and less space for park and etc. Here I am listing few of attraction which we visited recently.

peak-temple-park

peak-temple-park

How to go: If you are coming from Tsim Sha Tsui  area then the nearest station to reach the below attraction is Central Station (MTR), station is  big so just find out J2 exit. Train fare in Hong Kong are around 15~30$ per visit so keep charging your octopus card.

Note: For all kind of transportation in Hong Kong they accept octopus card which you can use on entry and exit points to deduct fare. The starting price to use card is 150$. You can return your card when you are leaving Hong Kong and can get refund amount which is equal to total amount on the card – 9$ .

Read also: how to get travel visa for Hong Kong

What to see: We visited first time to Hong Kong so the place which we are going to explain below is good for first times but might not bad for second timers too. The busiest district have many things to offer from shopping to food. Most of the places are with free entrance fee apart from Victoria peak. So enjoy the view of nature, street food, window shopping and be a part of history.

Hong Kong Zoological And Botanical Gardens: This place is just 200 meters away from the station. The best thing of this place is peace and see variety of orchids as well as birds. We were impressed by seeing omnivorous plant like “Venus Trap”, “Pitcher Plants” and “Flypaper”.We have seen this type of plant first time. Park entrance is free and area is small and can be covered in 1 hr slow walking to see each place.

Man Mo Temple: This temple is famous in the area and dedicated to god of literature It is a beautiful place for worship and to feel the positive aura of the place. As this place is on list of many people you can see shutter click here and there, but be aware if you are going only for clicking pics then avoid some special Chinese holiday as place become smoky and crowded easily.

Lan Kwai Fong: Night is always young in pub street Lan Kwai Fong. It is always a fun with a shot of tequila.If you are tired of eating dumplings all the time then this street can help you. There are many bars and western food courts which serve delicious food with some luxury.You can try to have beer in standing bar. There is one saying about the street  that most of business talk happen on Lan Kwai Fong beer bar counter. Our recommendation for this place to visit between 18:30 ~ 10:00.

flying vagabond

flying vagabond

Read also: Big Buddha The Altar Of Heaven Hong Kong

Stanley and Wellington street: These two street are just parallel to Lan Kwai Fong. From all the places we visited  in the island we found Stanley street market is good for price as well as quality.If you are thinking to go here be ready to use some tricks for bargaining. Market has everything for everyone just starting with 10$ onwards. Perfect place for strolling and buying some small souvenirs. Wellington street is just in the bottom of Victoria peak and famous for many office buildings, restaurants and tea houses. Tea houses are very popular among people in Hong Kong, so go there and enjoy dim-sum with tea.

Junkyard house: If you have time and you want to enjoy lunch at floating restaurant then this is the place for you, to enjoy food. Experience a contrast between modernity and traditional values. Place is a bit out of central district but you can take bus number 70 at  Exchange Square Bus Terminal outside “D“ exit of Hong Kong MRT station.

Victoria Peak With Peak Tram: Hong Kong visit is not completed until you have not visited Victoria peak to see bird eye view of the city. Place is amazing and you can see harbor to repulse bay in one panoramic shot. You can either take peak tram or bus to reach Victoria peak but we suggest to take tram. Tram is an adventure itself, because elevation is very high, even you can see building parallel to tram line seems like slanting, yet it’s straight.

Note: Queue for tram line is always crowded, so better to keep some buffer time 1~2 hour waiting for train. You can buy set ticket 80$ per person (tram + sky-deck pack) which is highly recommended. Peak is a bit colder than city, so take care about warm cloths if you are visiting in winter.

Golden Bauhinia Square:  If you do not know until now then let me tell you Bauhinia orchid tree is emblem of Hong Kong which you can see at this place as well as on Hong Kong national flag. Square has high value in history of Hong Kong. So Golden Bauhinia is symbol of Hong Kong’s return to China from British rule. Highly recommended to see Symphony of lights performance, flag ceremony and walking trail along waterfront promenade while enjoying the view of Victoria Harbour.

Read also: Venice Of Hong Kong Tai O Fishing Village

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bird-eye-view

bird-eye-view

Venice Of Hong Kong Tai O Fishing Village

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Fishing Village

Fishing Village

In my last post Big Buddha The Altar Of Heaven I explained you how to visit the place from city center now this time I will tell you how to visit fishing village from big buddha. From big buddha, you can take bus number 21 to reach the fishing village.If you are coming directly from Tung Chung station then you can take bus number 11 directly heading toward Tai O bus terminus.From bus stand fishing village is just couple of steps away.On your first step out of the bus will give you a feeling of fish smell and you can see closely the life of fisherman.You will also get to know what they do in their routine life and what are their food and culture.

Also read: Big Buddha The Altar Of Heaven Hong Kong

This village is a home of tanka tribe who made their houses on stilts to make them socially connected to live their lives above water.At the entrance of fishing village you will find many people asking you for pink dolphin sightseeing but better to compare each company price and service standard before boarding any boat in hurry. There are 2 to 3 tour company which provide dolphin tour.If you are hungry you can go and visit street food which I love most of the time of my walk. There are small restaurants as well as some beautiful cafes.

There are two trails for entering the village, parallel to the both side of logged water area.First trail goes along the mountain with some steep hiking, but you will enjoy the view of sea shore. Second trail goes toward multiple temples in the village where you can see small concrete houses on the way and Chinese temple art as well as resting viewpoints to enjoy calm sea waves.This place is always awesome for photo shooters who want to capture fisherman lives on stilt houses and manually operated rope drawn ferry bridge which operated for over 80+ years.

Also read: Tourist visa for Hong Kong

Vagabond Walk

Vagabond Walk

While coming back to city center do not forget to buy dry seafood from the market.The place is a charm for your eyes but might not good for your nose if you feel strong fishing smell.This village is a combination of human art and natural surrounding. If you are visiting hong kong you can see this place have completely different lifestyle from hustle and bustle from city center.I recommend this place for half day sightseeing with enjoying some walking trails as well as tasting seafood in street.Hope you enjoy this place let me know if you require any help or information about the place.

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Big Buddha The Altar Of Heaven Hong Kong

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Big Buddha PC: Khuded Pravasi

Big Buddha PC: Khuded Pravasi

It was my graduation’s time Facebook viral big buddha photos, when I heard first time about big buddha.On that time I thought it’s in China but the thing is it’s in outer urban of Hong Kong. If you are in Hong Kong then this place deserve a must see in your itinerary for peace as well as panoramic scenery from the top. Its combination of modern sculpture art on 34 meters  high bronze statue of buddha and civil engineering.

Also read: Tourist visa for Hong Kong

Hong Kong is very small country but enough attractions to visit for day trip as well as for couple of week. Big buddha is known as Tian Tan Buddha. If you are thinking to visit this place I will recommend a full day trip over there.

Transport: Big Buddha is outside of hong kong city center and your stop to reach Buddha is Ngong Ping Bus Terminus or cable car station. To reach this place first you have to come Tung Chung Station from Hong Kong city and then take either bus or cable car. More information about cable car transport fare and time table can be reached on official website Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car . If you are on tight budget and can not afford haftey price of cable car then you can use public transport, bus number is 23 from Tung Chung Town Centre with fare about 27 HKD and here is official website New Lantao Bus.

Note: My personal recommendation is that you can come by cable car while viewing beautiful scenery as its really wonderful route to see mountain as well as beaches at same time.

If you are coming by bus then you can see differences about residence structure of Hong kong city center and urban. On the way you will see many resorts and private villas while in city center there are skyscraper only, no single private houses, that might be because of expensive price or lack of land. Once you reach on top you can easily see statue. Just go ahead to see multiple small status symbolize of different Chinese dynasty sign. You can see two big gate and one monastery which is same in architect as of forbidden city in Beijing.

In middle of monastery and entrance point there is one elevated circle where people were doing prayer at particular point with facing Buddha statue. I did prayer with lineup to other fellows and click a photo in rapid fire. You can buy incense sticks if you want to pray or just for offering before entering monastery. In monastery you will see thousand Buddha engraved on wall and yes clicking photo is highly prohibited and you mind it.

Now get ready to count stairs to reach Buddha, after few minutes you are on the top and that will make you happy to see view of surroundings.In winter it’s too windy so difficult to stay long on top but autumn seems good. Outside of Buddha statue there are other small bronze status of pupil offering different things to buddha.Keep water bottle with you while you are climbing up as everything is a bit expansive on top even water.

Special Note: If you are interested to see inner structure of statue then you can buy lunch coupon before climbing the stairs, price is about 110 HKD and food is fully vegetarian.This coupon will allow you to visit basement of Buddha statue and see more information about place.

Once you are done with visiting buddha you can visit wisdom path which is a series of 38 wooden monuments containing some prayers using calligraphy. Next stop is Ngong Ping Village which is one stop solution for your food and for movie lovers there is small theater too.If you are having vegetarian companion like me there are two option one is subway veggie roll and another is Indian restaurant. You can also purchase some small souvenir items to create memory.

If your day still allowed you to have plenty of time you can try to visit Tai O Fishing Village and I am going to write post on that next week. So keep  visiting blog for new entries about all articles about my travel to Hong Kong. Upto that time enjoy my old posts.

Offering PC: Khuded Pravasi

Offering PC: Khuded Pravasi